Breaking Out
by Letyourmindsoar
Summary: Hazuki's father was a pro, and his talent runs in her blood. Now, this talent condemns her to a restricted life, and she wants out. Her comrades at Seigaku, however, don't know if they want to let her go. PERMANENT HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

A/N: PRINCE OF TENNIS IS NOT MINE

Okay, I'm procrastinating AGAIN. Sorry. Well, you can't really see much Prince of Tennis yet, but it's coming. Please read and review!!!

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_It's so dark,_ Hazuki thought as she ran home from the Tokyo library. She slowed when she was halfway home. She was beginning to get tired. She began to hear footsteps. Out of the darkness, a man wobbled towards her. He beckoned to her, telling her to come closer. Of course, Hazuki backed away instead. He took a step forward. She took a step back.

Suddenly, the man lunged at Hazuki. She saw the glint of his knife and screamed. She tried to cover face but wasn't quick enough. The knife pierced her skin just under her right eyebrow. The man dragged it down through here eye. He pulled it out when it hit her cheekbone. Hazuki fell to the ground, crying out in agony. The pain was unbearable.

Hazuki's attacker fell to the ground face forward mere seconds after. She looked at him to see the blade of the man's knife protruding from his back. Clutching her right eye, Hazuki scrambled back from the dead man. She looked up to see a boy. When he came into view, she saw that he looked apologetic to her. He bent down, giving Hazuki a closer look at his face.

The boy looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old. He looked her over, to see if she was hurt. He pulled her small hand away from her right eye. He cringed when he saw how bad it was. He picked her up and began running. Hazuki managed to ask, "Onii-san, where are we going?"

"I'm taking you to the hospital. We can call your otou-san and your okaa-san once we're there." The boy replied.

"My otou-san died five years ago." Hazuki replied quietly.

The boy was shocked, but he didn't slow down. "I am very sorry to hear that."

"What's your name, Onii-san?" Hazuki tried to keep her mind off the pain.

"I'm Tezuka Kunimitsu. What's your name?"

"My name is Narita Hazuki. Can I call you Tezuka-nii?"

"Yes, you can."

They didn't speak anymore. When they reached the hospital, the doctors, nurses, and patients were shocked at the sight of them. Hazuki's hands, face, and shirt were covered in blood. Tezuka had her blood on his fingers as well from examining her eye. Luckily, however, Hazuki hadn't lost too much blood thanks to how quickly the Tezuka had ran to the hospital, which wasn't too far away either.

A doctor called for a stretcher, and Tezuka placed Hazuki on it. Hazuki was thoroughly scared by now, so she held onto his sleeve. This surprised him, but he took her hand off of his sleeve. He shook his head and said, "I can't go with you, but when you wake up, I'll be there, okay?"

Hazuki nodded her head, and three nurses took her to the operation room. They moved her onto the operating table, and as they prepared for the surgery on her eye, Hazuki looked around. The room was brightly lit and was of average size. There were numerous machines all around the room and a table with surgical tools on it right next to where she was lying.

A male doctor turned to her, holding a syringe. It was filled with some sort of liquid. Hazuki became more afraid than she already was, if that were even possible. She had never liked needles. He said, "Don't worry. It's only going to sting a little. We're going to have you go to sleep. That way, you won't feel anything. Okay?"

Hazuki nodded, and the doctor injected the liquid into her. He was right; it did sting. The doctor handed the empty syringe to a nurse and turned around again. However, she slowly felt herself drifting off. Her eye began to hurt less and less. Soon enough, she was in a deep, dreamless sleep.

Meanwhile, in the waiting room of the hospital, Tezuka was sitting in one of the many seats. He was patiently waiting for Hazuki's operation to finish. Then, he heard footsteps and looked. A formally dressed man was standing in front of him. His eyes narrowed; this man was no stranger. He gestured to the chair across from Tezuka. He showed no opposition, so the man sat down.

Tezuka crossed his arms and waited for the man to say something. He smiled. Neither of the two said anything for quite a while. All they did was stare back at each other. Finally, Tezuka said, "What do you want, Inui-san?"

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A/N: I need reviews! Otherwise, I'll think it's not worth writing!


	2. Chapter 2

"Aren't you polite?" Inui-san said.

"What do you want?" The boy repeated.

"I happened to hear about what was going on, so I decided to come see for myself. You are kind, Tezuka-kun." Inui-san replied.

Tezuka sighed. "If I had been paying more attention, that little girl wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"If she hadn't been alone, she wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"It wasn't her fault."

"No, it wasn't, but now, we have another member for Dragon."

Tezuka was shocked. They were going to recruit Hazuki the same way Dragon had recruited him. He had been saved by Dragon when he was six-years-old, becoming indebted to Dragon. The only way to repay that debt was to join Dragon. It wasn't as if he was unwilling, though, but then, something clicked in his mind. Tezuka asked, "Was it all a set-up?"

"You're quick, Tezuka-kun. Yes, it _was_ a set-up. We're always looking for new members. We found her on the Eligible List a few weeks ago. That drunken man was actually a criminal we had caught a few days ago. He was going to receive the death sentence anyways. He had murdered his wife and daughter."

Tezuka wasn't exactly surprised. The Eligible List consisted of the names and information of young children whose parents weren't around very often. Dragon did what they could to get those children to join, and they could do almost anything. A few years after joining Dragon, he had learned that he had been on the Eligible List. It hadn't just been a coincidence back then, and it wasn't one now.

Inui-san stood up and said, "Well, I believe you know what to do.

Tezuka replied, "You want me to recruit her."

"See, you are quick." He walked out of the hospital, leaving him to his own thoughts.

Tezuka sighed. It wasn't that he was unhappy with being in Dragon. In fact, he was glad to be in Dragon. It gave him pride to be in the organization that helped the government. He revealed a half-smile; he had caught a thief earlier today. He had been going home from the police station when he saw Hazuki.

"Excuse me," a woman from behind him said.

Tezuka stood up and turned around. It was one of the nurses. "Hayashi-sensei will be out in just a moment. The surgery is almost done."

"I see. Thank you." Tezuka replied.

"May I ask your name?" The nurse was holding a clipboard and a pen.

"I'm Tezuka Kunimitsu." Tezuka replied.

The nurse wrote his name down. "And the name of the little girl you brought?"

"Narita Hazuki."

The nurse wrote Hazuki's name down. Then she paused and looked him in the eye. "What happened, exactly?"

"I was walking home when I heard a scream. I ran to the source of the scream, and I saw her on the ground clutching her eye. There was a man with a knife in his hand standing above her. Then, he stabbed himself with the knife and fell face forward. I ran over, picked her up, and ran here. " Tezuka answered.

The part about the man committing suicide wasn't completely true though. Nor was the part about him running over after the man fell. Tezuka had run over as soon as he saw what was going on. He had kicked the man's arm when he reached the other side of the street. The man had lost balance and plunged the knife into his chest on accident. Then, he fell over.

Of course, the nurse didn't need to know that. There were no witnesses anyways. He knew that Hazuki hadn't seen; she had been in too much pain to notice anything else. The nurse finished writing everything down and looked at Tezuka again. "How old are you?"

"I'm fourteen-years-old." Tezuka replied.

"Fourteen? You're awfully mature for someone so young." The nurse replied.

"Thank you." Tezuka replied.

Tezuka sat back down. He waited for what seemed to be hours. When he looked at his watch, he realized that it was now one in the morning. He had been at the hospital since six-thirty. "Thank goodness it's Friday…or well, Saturday." Tezuka thought. He heard footsteps behind him and automatically stood up. It was the doctor.

"You must be Tezuka-kun. I'm Hayashi-sensei." Hayashi-sensei said.

"Thank you for helping her." Tezuka replied.

Hayashi-sensei laughed. "I am a doctor after all. It's my job." Tezuka nodded.

"About Narita-chan, she should be waking up anytime now. The surgery itself was only an hour long, since her only injury was her eye." Hayashi-sensei continued.

"So it was just the anesthesia."

"Yes, it was. Now, about her right eye…to put it bluntly, she'll never see out of it again." Hayashi-sensei looked regretful.


	3. Chapter 3

"Yes, it was. Now, about her right eye…to put it bluntly, she'll never see out of it again." Hayashi-sensei looked regretful.

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"She'll never see out of it again?" Tezuka was in disbelief.

"Never. It's impossible. The knife did too much damage to the eyeball itself."

"Oh…can I go see her?"

"Sure, it's right this way. Oh, and if possible, could you tell her the news? I don't think she trusts us much. Even though you're also a complete stranger, from what I've heard, you saved her. Plus, you're closer in age. She'll listen to you." Hayashi-sensei showed Tezuka to a room.

Tezuka opened the door and went inside. Hazuki was lying in the bed, asleep. The eye patch covering her right eye was white. He sat in the chair next to her bed and waited for her to wake up. He slowly felt himself dosing off. He went to the restroom and washed his face. When he returned, he saw Hazuki open her eye.

"Are you okay?" Tezuka-nii asked.

"Tezuka-nii! You're here!" Hazuki exclaimed.

"I promised that I would stay. I can't break a promise." Tezuka-nii sat back down. "So how are you?"

"Mmm…my eye still hurts a lot, but it's not as bad as before." Hazuki replied.

"That's good."

Hazuki paused. "When will they take off the eye patch? I want to use both of my eyes. It feels weird only using one."

"Actually, your eye was damaged…really badly."

Hazuki's brown eye blinked three times. "I can't use my right eye anymore?"

"No…I'm sorry."

"Tezuka-nii, why are you saying sorry? It's not your fault."

Hazuki smiled, and Tezuka patted her on the head. Although it wasn't his fault directly, Tezuka still felt guilty. However, he could see that Hazuki was a strong girl. She would definitely be all right. He sighed, and Hazuki looked at him, puzzled. He decided it would be good to tell her the truth about the man who had damaged her eye, and it would be better now than later.

So, Tezuka said, "Narita-chan, the man that attacked you was actually a murderer. He killed his wife and his daughter."

Hazuki's eyes went wide. "He…he _killed _them?"

"Yes, he did. Did you see, afterwards, the knife sticking out of his back?" Tezuka asked.

She looked fearful. "Y-yes."

"You see, he had lost his balance and accidentally stabbed himself."

"R-really?"

"Really. I guess you could say it was his punishment. He did horrible things, so a horrible thing happened to him."

Hazuki paused. "I…I see."

They sat in silence for what could've been a few minutes or a few hours. Hazuki was staring off into space, trying to comprehend what she had just been told. Then, when Tezuka was sure that there no eavesdroppers, he said, "You know, Narita-chan, there's actually a secret group that does anything the government can't do."

Hazuki blinked a few times. "A group that does what the government can't do?"

"Exactly. For example, if there's a criminal that the police can't catch, that group catches him."

"There's a group like that?"

"There is. They do many other things too."

"Really?" Hazuki was very interested in what Tezuka had to say.

"I wouldn't say things that aren't true, Narita-chan. You see, _I'm_ part of that group, and that group is called Dragon."

"Dragon…can I join? I want to help catch criminals! That way, no one will get hurt like me again!"

Hazuki seemed very excited. She didn't seem to notice that Tezuka's features had softened. He had had a feeling of nostalgia. When he first heard about Dragon, his reaction had been very similar to Hazuki's just now. He was having second thoughts about telling Hazuki about Dragon so soon. "How old are you?"

"I'm six-years-old. How old are you Tezuka-nii?"

"I'm fourteen-years-old." Tezuka replied.

"Wow! So you were eight-years-old when I was born." Hazuki said, without pause, which surprised Tezuka. She was only six-years-old, and she had figured out their age difference almost instantly.

"You have a quick mind; that's good." Tezuka said. Hazuki smiled at him.

"Well, about joining Dragon, you have to go to a special school, and you can live there." Tezuka said.

"You can live at the school?" Hazuki asked in amazement.

"You can. They have rooms there. They also give you food."

"Wow! I thought they only did that in senior high school."

"Dragon does it as well. We'll talk to your okaa-san about it, but we can't tell her that you're joining Dragon. We can't tell her that's it's a different school either. We can only tell her that you're transferring." Tezuka said.

"Why?"

"Dragon is a secret group, remember?"

"It's that secret?" Hazuki asked.

"It is."

"Oh."

"I still want to join." Hazuki said.

"Are you sure? Once you join, you can't leave."

"I want to join, Tezuka-nii. Please?" Hazuki begged.

"We'll see. For now, just get some rest."

Hazuki beamed at him, and Tezuka-nii patted the top of her head. She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.


End file.
